Today I was able to go outside without a coat for the first time in weeks. And if my excessive use of capitalization hasn’t made it clear, let me tell you I am so ready for the warm weather.

Goodbye sweaters. Goodbye boots. Goodbye ice that freezes to my car windshield, making life a total nightmare in the mornings.

Though I could go on, I know you probably didn’t click on this post to hear me rant about the weather. Let’s move into today’s topic, shall we?

Blog shyness.

We all know it, and some of us (myself included) had have the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with from time to time.

I wrote about this topic once before in a post about finding your blogging voice. And ever since I wrote said post, I’ve wanted to broach the subject again—-mainly because reading the comments on that post made me realize that a lot of other bloggers have gone through similar experiences.

Because the truth of the matter is, although we may write and edit and publish behind computer screens, blogging requires us to put ourselves out there in a way that’s different and, honestly, more intense than face-to-face interactions. It forces us to try and show ourselves, our likes and dislikes, our thoughts and feelings, all the things that makes us who we are, to other people without actually meeting them.

It’s kind of mind-boggling when you think about it.

And while that can be fun and exciting, it can also be incredibly nerve-wracking. Sharing things about yourself to legitimately anyone who decides to click on your site can be intimidating, especially if you’re a private person in real-life.

That’s pretty much how I felt when I first started writing Currently, Lately in August of 2016 (oh, how the time flies). I wasn’t really sure if I was blogging the way I wanted to blog. I didn’t know if I was sharing what I wanted to share. And most importantly, I couldn’t figure out if I was conveying myself as accurately as possible.

I had what I’ve come to dub “new blogger shyness.”

What is new blogger shyness, you ask?

In my mind, new blogger shyness is the blogging equivalent to meeting a new person and feeling awkward around them until you’ve gotten to know them. Because that’s what blogging really is, isn’t it? Opening yourself up to a new audience of people?

Anyway, I think all of us can remember going through at least one experience like this. That weirdness you feel when you’re introduced to someone for the first time, and you’re not entirely sure how to act. It’s strange. And it’s uncomfortable. And it’s unfamiliar. Kind of like it is when you first start a blog.

But over time, it becomes less strange, less uncomfortable, and less unfamiliar. You start to open up. And suddenly, it’s the easiest thing in the world.

But, you can’t reach that state of total and complete comfort without the uncomfortable part. In fact, the uncomfortable part is what serves as the foundation of the comfort.

When I think about my own experience, my thoughts immediately go to fashion. I used to be so timid about sharing fashion posts on here. I didn’t know how to pose for photos. I didn’t know where to take photos. Overall, I just wasn’t too sure of myself.

But what I’ve learned from starting out as a shy, uncertain blogger is that the ability to be yourself comes from the time you put into your blog. As things become more and more familiar to you, the nerves gradually begin to die away.

Take baby steps.

I’ll type it again—-in case you didn’t read it the first time.

BABY STEPS.

Don’t fret too much if you feel like you haven’t quite found a way to be yourself yet. One of the most important thing to keep in mind when trying to overcome blogging shyness (or anything in life, TBH) is that it’s not going to happen instantaneously.

It would be nice if things clicked right away, but they don’t always do. It might take some time for you to get comfortable. And you may have to push yourself a few times before everything feels familiar. But comfort really is just a product of time. It will come to you eventually.

Totally true. Overcoming the shyness is one of the biggest things I wanted to tackle. I don’t know why roleplaying my original characters on Tumblr is easy in comparison to writing sometimes. I think that’s why I honestly wrote about my birth control experience to kind of break those walls down.

But I have adored talking about things I typically wouldn’t want to talk about. Most people don’t want to hear about my book interests or movies that I love. However, on the blog, I feel like I can talk about all that with no judgment. And if I am judged, at least no one comments on there to tell me they are!

Loved this post! and true, most of us went through that awkward phase. I’ve started blogging two years ago and now I feel pretty comfortable writing more personal posts that expose my true self to people, but recently I started translating my posts from Arabic to English and OMG! it’s that awkwardness again.